You just spent the last month or more celebrating the holidays with family and friends. And unless you have an amazing will power or extremely bland taste in food, you just spent the last month eating more than usual. Now January is here, and you are left with a sweet tooth and extra baggage—around your hips!
As you try on one outfit after another in search for something decent to wear back to work, you formulate a get-fit-quick plan to those five or ten extra pounds that decided to stick around after the holidays. For the next month or two, you will hit the gym every day and eat only soup or salads for lunch and dinner. That should do it! Then, you can go back to your own laid-back lifestyle and eat fried foods all the time—as long as you watch your portion sizes.
At last! You find a skirt you can pull up enough to look as if it fits. You smile to yourself, thinking of how you will be back in your skinny jeans after just one month of self-denial. But has it ever occurred to you that fitness offers more than vanity alone? What about the hidden benefits? You know, those minor details such as low cholesterol and a healthy heart. Have you ever thought of what it would be like to get fit . . . for life?
January is a great time to begin a new venture. Many people set goals for the New Year and feel more compelled to start something new. If you find yourself yo-yoing between a gingerbread man come Christmas and a treadmill gerbil come January, perhaps its time you resolved to discover the health God created you to have.
God only gave us one body while we are here on this earth. Once we ruin our health—that’s it! We should do all we can to take care of the body God has given to us (1 Cor. 6:19–20). I’m not saying that you should never eat anything sweet or fried, or that you have to be at the gym every day it is open. But I am saying that you should make your physical health a priority just as you make your spiritual and mental health a priority.
In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he writes, “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23). Paul must have understood that having good physical health would also improve other areas of our life.
When we take care of ourselves, we will have more energy and strength to carry out the tasks God has given us. We will naturally feel better and be in a better mood. I believe the way we carry ourselves throughout everyday life is vital to our witness as God’s children. We want others to see us as blessed, happy, and enjoying our lives.
If we want to live in total health, we will need to do more than just try to shape up fast. We will need to detoxify our lives. One problem with resolutions is that they all set limits. People try to accomplish some huge feat in usually a strict amount of time. That extremity alone adds unusual pressure, let alone the goal itself.
Having an end goal in mind is great. We need to keep thinking positively toward completing our vision. Yet, focusing too much on the end result can frustrate us with where we are in the process.
As you go through this year, focus on living healthy one day at a time. First, pray that God will reveal to you what you need to do to achieve better health. Then, ask for His guidance with living this plan out every single day. For example, you may feel like you need to lose ten pounds or stop eating so much sugar to get your health in check. But in the meantime, you can celebrate your progress.
Thank God and enjoy a sense of accomplishment with every pound and every sugared drink you deduct from your daily quota. You will feel better about your goal and probably reach it faster than you would otherwise. Just put your confidence in Christ and press on toward your goal (Phil. 3:12–14).
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You just spent the last month or more celebrating the holidays with family and friends. And unless you have an amazing will power or extremely bland taste in food, you just spent the last month eating more than usual. Now January is here, and you are left with a sweet tooth and extra baggage—around your hips!.jpg)
God only gave us one body while we are here on this earth. Once we ruin our health—that’s it! We should do all we can to take care of the body God has given to us (1 Cor. 6:19–20). I’m not saying that you should never eat anything sweet or fried, or that you have to be at the gym every day it is open. But I am saying that you should make your physical health a priority just as you make your spiritual and mental health a priority.
sugared drink you deduct from your daily quota. You will feel better about your goal and probably reach it faster than you would otherwise. Just put your confidence in Christ and press on toward your goal (Phil. 3:12–14).
